IHOP

So- tonight we went to IHOP- I was craving the grilled pot roast sandwich, with 2 cheeses.  It's divine.

Peyton was acting nutty, dragging her hands through the whipped cream, syrup, and yogurt. She was not listening or had a come back to each thing I said.

Perhaps, I may have been a bit stern: but NOT to haven't warranted the following note that the waitress gave to me, from the 2 ladies that were seated at the table next to us.

  It read-

"You have such a beautiful lil child and it breaks my heart that you speak to her so coldly.  She is a child (underlined several times) and a gift from God" signed- God Bless You".

Of course, this broke my heart- brought me to tears, actually.

Then- i thought- this person has no idea about me or my child.  Fuck her.

So, here I sit, wondering if she's right, knowing that I can have a sharp tongue (never cussing), but I am quite stern.  I am raising a respectful daughter, not an animal.

I shared it with my husband, who shook his head and ripped it up while stating, "did she have kids with her", I said, "No"- he said, "well then she has no idea what it takes".

Just wanted to share.

Thanks for listening.

Jenn~

Blog Award- LIEBSTER

I have been nominated for the prestigious blog award named, LIEBSTER.  Please copy the LIEBSTER award picture and paste to your page!

Below are my answers to the questions from the infamous, Gwen, author of http://www.pullmyfunnybone.com/ and I will also ask 11 questions of my own for the other award recipients to answer!  Have Fun!

Accepting the award also involves answering a series of questions so here you go- These questions-brought to you by Gwen-a-licious....

1.  Have you ever been caught in a lie? probably

2.  If you had superhuman powers, which power would you have? the ability to heal
3.  If your significant other gave you a "free pass" - who would be yours?  Jack White
4.  What is your biggest phobia?  Spiders & Roaches
5.  What is the longest you've gone without taking a bath or shower? a week, but i was swimming in a river daily, so it's not like i wasn't submerged in water.
6.  What flaw is enough to make you end a relationship? back-stabbing
7.  Do you have any tattoo's? No
8.  Have you ever looked in someone's medicine cabinet? Of course, doesn't everyone?
9.  Do you pee in the shower? of course, I've even pooped, when absolutely necessary
10. How often do you ignore calls on your cell phone? rarely
11. What's the favorite part of your body? my eyes

 Aubree, author of  http://www.akashicwindow.blogspot.com/ has chosen the questions below, of which I have answered.

1.) Do you consider yourself to be super-duper fly?  just super-fly, not super-duper
2.) What is your favorite reality show?  i don't watch them, but I do enjoy re-runs of Project Runway & America's Next Top Model!
3.) Do you fear that the Apocalypse or Armageddon will occur in your lifetime? I feel we are on the brink of something.  Nuclear- i hope not, war-Yes and beginning of a global consciousness- God, I hope so.
4.) What is one of your top three favorite quotes of all time?  "It will all find its way, in time"
5.) Who is your Favorite writer?  James Redfield & Maya Angelou
6.) Can you recite any movie in its entirety, and if so, which one?Yes, Grease 1 & 2, and Friday.
7.) What one person has most influenced your life thus far? Tori Amos
8.) What is your favorite childhood memory?  can't remember much, maybe playing softball in Chicago during the summer.
9.) Why do you blog?  to share my thoughts with others.
10.) What is the most terrifying thing to ever happen to you?  thinking that my subconscious could come to a reality at a moment's notice or that it already happened and i am getting snippets of reality.
And finally, number 11) Do you wipe front to back or back to front?when i poop, front to back, when i pee, i pat.

Questions answered!  Per the rules of accepting the Liebster Award, I have come up with eleven more questions of my own to ask the eleven other righteous blogs that I nominate and promote for all earthlings to view. My questions are below"

1.  Have you had conversations with the non-living?
2.  What are your must haves with you, at all times?
3.  How many friends do you consider "true" friends and why?
4. What is your favorite food and beverage?
5. Who is your favorite musical influence?
6.  What's the most embarrassing thing that's happened to you?
7.  What is your favorite time of the year?
8.  What do you collect?
9.  What musical instrument would you like to learn?
10. If you had to choose between being blind or deaf, which would you choose?
11. What do you quote, on a regular basis?


Now, to nominate fellow blogarians~

http://www.akashicwindow.blogspot.com/

http://www.pullmyfunnybone.com/

http://rockadocious.blogspot.com/ 

http://onemoretimemama.blogspot.com/

http://keepinyouout.blogspot.com/

http://www.kristiewashere.com/

Tides- They are a changin'

So, with Hurricane Sandy in full force, I thought I'd write a poem.

Full Moon staring into your eyes
Breezy, fierce wind blowing by
Brewing, boiling, and reaching to the sky

Oceans erupting, swelling, engulfing
Naive people not heeding their warning
Stranded without power, nothing to do but worry

When will it end you may wonder?

I believe it's just the beginning

May God Be Us, always, In All Ways


ALL my Best-

JENN

Chasing the Dragon

I will not dwell...
today was hell...
makes me think of diving into the wishing well....

jaws are clenching....
gut is wrenching....
every nerve standing on end....

is going up worth coming down?
we'll shall see..... we'll shall see....

"How long is forever, this time?" Willie

Feeling Good

Recently I've been feeling really good.  It could be the Celexa working combined with my thyroid medication; which has coincidentally allow me to drop over 20 pounds!  I am trying to not over-think this new 'system' but recognize that I am truly grateful for its benefits.

That being said, I would like to give a big Thank You to all of the world's energies that have come aligned for me to experience this newly felt goodness in my life.

Humbly,

Jenn

Two-Take Exchange: Take 4

Swap number four! This swap's image was chosen by yours truly, Aubree, and the following is my "take" on it. I don't title these things, but if I were to title this one, I think I would call it "The Vain and the Obliterated."

As usual, you can pick up Jenn's "take" if you wander over to my blog, Akashic Aisles (follow the signs to the basement). We hope you enjoy both perspectives. Feel free to leave comments, unless you are a spam-artist: in which case, we cordially invite you to...suck it.

"Speculate, Perspirate, Suffocate; all the while forgetting to Calculate the odds stamped upon the heavens and delivered unto our hands...both of our hands...without a digit to spare." -A.L.

Basking in a light that is not the sun, while resting on an ocean floor that is now the same as any other surface...dry, and without purpose. Nobody sees it, but it's coming.

So blind is she that she wishes only to use its heat to change her skin tone, struggling as she is to be the card that society flips over in a match to itself.

"Society." This term and its implications will be told - as parables of warning - under an ashy sky to the unfortunate heirs of the Cleansing.

Unfortunate? Who am I to say? There are gifts hiding in the strangest of places: perhaps under a broken shell left behind by a parched and foresaken ocean?

Nobody sees it, but it's coming.

The broken shells on hardened sands will be tools rather than reminders - or novelty bits of decor, for it is true that such luxuries will become naught but smoky memories that will soon enough turn to cold, but fruitful legend. And the next cycle: will they starve themselves of the fruit?


I wonder. 


Is that a magnifying glass that she doesn't see? How fitting. As her hair is caught by flame and fury, she thinks only of the card she aspires to be in a game about to end. "Do these highlights bring out my eyes?"


Even her grand illusion is brought together in pieces - one frame at a time - like the simplest of all puzzles. Still she cannot see the clues meant to remind her of Origin and Errand.


 She flaunts an Armani dress and flashes her best smile.  Silly, distracted girl.


 It is not the mermaid that is fabled.


Never have the fabled been falsities; and never have fairy-tales been stories reserved for any but the young...For there isn't an Old one among us.


Nobody sees it, but it's coming.



Post Written by: Aubree @ Akashic Aisles: The Basement View

Take-Two Exchange: Take 3

Blog-Swap number three is upon us: I, Aubree (author of Akashic Aisles: The Basement View), am posting my “take” on the below image, while Jenn – who runs this blog, Embrace Your Crazy -  is posting her perspective on the same image across the way at,  The Basement.  And…Voila!  The “swap” has been swapped. 

Before moving on, though:

Already, in three swap-a-roos, I have learned something rather fascinating.  Of course I knew that individual interpretation of all things artistic covers a vast expanse from one person to another.  I did not realize, however, how different the manner in which we discover our interpretations of a single piece can be, and often is. 

For instance, I have learned that I am not detail oriented in my artistic ruminations.  An image does not affect me in parts and pieces; it affects me as a whole…as a story (which, I suppose is not entirely shocking, once considered).  Rather than seeing it as a slow and unraveling depiction of line and color, art impacts me like a tidal wave, and my emotions continue to follow the tale past the point of impact and well into the undepicted village that lies beyond the frame.

Sure, this is an interesting discovery I have made about myself; but that is not why I am sharing it.  I am prefacing the following text with this revelation, because I believe it necessary to do so.

Now, onto the tale: beginning at the point of visual introduction to the simultaneous point of impact….and beyond.

"The masons build, alter, and determine a structure's facade - brick by brick, but be of right mind in knowing that you can fire and replace the masons at will. A continent can be intimidating in its vast and changing terrain, but be of right mind in knowing that the smallest bit of sand and a sufficient wind can change the face of a mountain" -Aubree Luke

  

I have been given occasion to take the Lookout’s seat in two separate watchtowers, each of extreme gift...and consequence.  The towers have been placed on opposite shorelines on the same continent, but they might as well be galaxies apart, except for what they have in common: the light within, and the misery that encompasses their views. 

The two know of each other, because I know of them – invited as I have been to climb the miles of rickety stairs that exist within both.  Also, the continent that divides them sends tales about one to the other, as frequently and garishly as possible.  Yet in truth, they know nothing of the other that can flaunt more value than the briefest glimpse gained as their lights quickly cross, without stopping.   

If only they would stop…. 

One tower is much larger than the other, and despite its weakening foundation, the masons insist upon adding more stone (these are the same masons that refuse to repair the winding and wobbling interior staircase that leads to the light source).  Without considering the tower’s view, the people that run to and fro - casting havoc throughout the continent that divides the towers - think it within their privilege to throw rocks of contempt at this larger of two towers; yet strangely, no mind is paid to the masons who hurriedly add more and more mortar, brick, and stone…yielding not to the cries of the foundation as it screams under the crushing weight. 

The smaller of the two towers is so much the measure that it is but the slightest fraction in bulk of the larger, and though its foundation remains sound in structure, the small tower sways precariously at the mercy of passing winds.  The inhabitants of the continent between the two towers pass harsh judgment upon the smallest, demanding to know why it does not fight to obtain more stone and mortar for itself.  And, in fury and frustration, the continent’s populace covers the frail tower’s facade in obscene graffiti; however - yet again - the masses do not thwart, nor condemn the masons who have chosen to leave the building materials by the side of the road to be weathered and deteriorated by time and element, rather than putting them to good use for the sake of the small tower (these are the same masons that refuse to repair the winding and wobbling interior staircase that leads to the light source).  No one stops to consider the swaying tower’s view. 

On the exterior, these two towers seem to have nothing in common.  It takes climbing the worn and beaten interior of each to understand the viewpoint that they cast their wavering, but constant light upon.  And rest assured, my friends, it is true that each member of the dividing continent(s) will have the same occasion as I, and eventually, the land between the two will lose acreage as Compassion makes water out of land, allowing the towers to move closer to one another.  Indeed, eventually their lights will not be so eager to pass each other by, and they will share a view of commonality that sows a growing reverence.  Finally, when the masons are given their share of responsibility, the faltering stairs accessing the climb to higher perspective will be restructured with blueprints of safe and nurturing priority. 

The two structures will become one, needing only a single light. 

Yet, understand (so as not to be misled with treacherous idealism) that there will be other Towers with viewpoints divided.  They will rise again and again, until every structured pair has housed every light, and every continent in between is dissolved.  Then - and only then - will we all be at home...in the same castle.